Comrades through the Wilderness

cat update

I've not posted very much about the cats in a week, and I want to remedy
this. As you probably know I got two kittens at the end of May. I'd been
vaguely looking for cats for a while, what with "reality" setting in
around me. A friend adopted a cat who had a litter of kittens somewhat
unexpectedly, and I said that I would take one. Well turns out that
there was a remaining kitten that had been unclaimed, and my family has
generally enjoyed getting kittens in sets before. So it wasn't a hard
sell.

These cats have been something of a journey. We spent the second night
that we had them at the emergency vet because Merlin was lethargic and
crying a lot. This was bad. Turns out the poor thing was constipated and
had a slight fever and maybe a little dehydrated. So the vet gave him a
little bit of fluids and I talked them into giving us syringes so that
we could shoot water into his mouth. Turns out he hadn't really grasped
drinking. In the subsequent months we have noticed a general
unburdened intelligence in this animal, despite his very pleasant
demeanor.

The pecking order of the cats has been pretty fun to observe. It seems
that Kip, the shrimper kitten has sort of established himself at the
top. This happened with the last kittens too. Very strange, though last
time, the alpha kitten was also the most personable. While Kip is
friendly and relaxed, Merlin is clearly the more affectionate cat.
Merlin's response to being picked up or held is basically to go
completely limp. Which makes carrying him around interesting. He's a bit
bigger, but feels much more heavy as he makes himself all dead weight.

They're now 9-10 months old, so we think that they're mostly done
growing. Merlin is 13-14 pounds, and Kip is probably 10ish pounds. The
other large cat in the house--Nash--is 20 pounds. We were, for a while,
concerned that we were going to end up with another couple 20ish pound
cats. Which isn't a bad thing, so much as an overwhelming thing.

I've never really had a cat that is as well adjusted as these. All
previous cats have been shelter cats, because that's just been what
makes sense. And since these were from a friend's cat, and she let them
stay for as long as they needed to. They're very well adjusted, and very
affectionate, and nothing really bothers them, which is nice. We've had
a lot of neurotic cats over the years.

While I really enjoy having kittens around, there is a point where the
constant playing and activity can be tiring. I look forward to the day
when I can wear headphones in the house without risking that the cats
will chew them to shreds, and the day that sight of my toes underneath
the covers doesn't raise the "attack," instinct. I mean, for now it's
great, but I enjoy headphones and my toes.

The only other thing of note is the fetching thing. Merlin first, and
Kip to a lesser degree, adore playing fetch. Merlin will find some toy,
carry it to you in his mouth drop it and then bat toward you. And then
he sits and watches you until you throw it, at which point he'll tare
after it, play with it for a moment and then bring it back. Repeat.
Repeat. Repeat.

This is cute, and a fun trick, it is however, a bit of the problem when
I'm on the phone with coworkers and clients.